“Making Coco’s Pepita” by Martinez, Xenakis, Roeyer and Hainke
Conference:
Type:
Entry Number: 49
Title:
- Making Coco’s Pepita
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
Capturing the authenticity of Mexican culture was a major focus on Coco and was examplified in making “Pepita”. Being one of the films most memorable characters, she was inspired by Mexican folk-art creatures known as “alebrijes”. Balancing the performance needs of the character while retaining the cultural details presented several challenges. We needed to evoke the chiseled look of wooden alebrijes while maintaining the range of expressivity desired in animation. We had to keep the graphic patterns on the wings and fur from distorting by avoiding feather-with-feather intersections and orienting the design to work with simulated hair motion. Finally, we had to integrate these brightly-colored and fantastic creatures into believable environments.
